The General
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Washington State - Melissa Fry is adamantly opposed to a Seattle developer's plan to grow marijuana across the street from the cafe where she works. "We are not very happy about it," said Fry, 30, a cook and waitress at the Little Crane Cafe, Vader's main hub. "The Little Crane is a bus stop for small children ages 5 to 17. Three different families use it." But a proposed wholesale marijuana grow operation in Vader doesn't faze JoAnne Boehmer, 60, who lives a few miles down the road in Ryderwood.
"Bring it on," she said Friday. "There will be more money to pay taxes. A lot of people will benefit from the jobs. We need industry here." Vader, population 619, has stagnated for years due to the decline of forestry jobs and lack of other industry, and even the school district had to dissolve and be absorbed by the Castle Rock schools in 2007. Now a Seattle developer Brandon Milton is saying a wholesale marijuana operation on his industrial property would be a boon for the struggling Lewis County town.
"A brand new, million-dollar market opening up overnight? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said by phone earlier this week. "It's a big win for the city government and for the community, and I'm excited about it from a business standpoint." He's been working nine years to develop 30 acres he owns south of the Little Crane Cafe. And voters' decision last year to legalize recreational marijuana prompted him to pursue a grow operation there. Labor-intensive marijuana cultivation is a "really good fit" for Vader and its labor force of former logging industry workers, he said. "This is enough money to provide really high-quality jobs, family-wage jobs that people will want to keep," he said. "To make a really strong community."
He'd like to build three 30,000-square-foot (three-quarters of an acre) indoor growing facilities, saying each would provide about $6,700 a year in property taxes to City Hall. Add on the money spent by his employees and the other business that could be attracted, and Milton said that's a huge boost to town's economy.Milton estimates he'd employ about 30 people in each of the three facilities, or 90 total if all are built.
Mayor Ken Smith said state law is on Milton's side and the City Council is "trying to figure out the nuances" of the law to prepare for ruling on the official applications when Milton submits them at Vader City Hall. This hadn't been done as of Friday, Smith said."Our City Council is trying to get its mind around (Milton's proposal), what it means and what would be the wisest course of action to represent the best interests of our community," he said.
Vader's economic difficulties are "a stark and grim reality," said Smith, a retired FBI agent. "Then again, there are principals involved that sometimes supersede the value of a dollar. It's the moral dilemma that we're evaluating." If the plan moves forward, "we would be on the cutting edge," he said. Not everyone is sold on the idea (see sidebar), but Milton said he hopes that will change as Vader residents learn more about his plan and the strict safety standards the state has in place. Those include 24/7 security monitoring and cataloging of "every seed and every ounce that's produced there." No marijuana would be sold at the facility.
"Marijuana can be controversial, mostly because it has been illegal and associated with illegal activity," he said. "But it's an amazingly complex issue." He also said there's a humanitarian aspect to legalizing marijuana. He hopes the local, legal supply will cut down on the illegal crops produced in Mexico by dangerous drug cartels. "They're literally murdering people that get in way of the production and demand," he said.
He also hopes some of the opposition will die down as more people learn of his plans.It's normal to fear a big change, he said, noting that the Cardinal Glass plant in Winlock was initially opposed by some worried about a large factory in a rural setting. Now, he said, it's an accepted part of the community.
"Sometimes it's really more about change and something coming to town that hasn't been there before," he said. "I think marijuana is just the latest thing that's new and different, but once people understand it's just a manufacturing facility, it's really no different than any other industry. ... It will just be a place that people go to work."
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Tdn.com
Author: Leslie Slape and Barbara LaBoe
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Vader marijuana facility: 'Big win' or bad idea?
"Bring it on," she said Friday. "There will be more money to pay taxes. A lot of people will benefit from the jobs. We need industry here." Vader, population 619, has stagnated for years due to the decline of forestry jobs and lack of other industry, and even the school district had to dissolve and be absorbed by the Castle Rock schools in 2007. Now a Seattle developer Brandon Milton is saying a wholesale marijuana operation on his industrial property would be a boon for the struggling Lewis County town.
"A brand new, million-dollar market opening up overnight? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said by phone earlier this week. "It's a big win for the city government and for the community, and I'm excited about it from a business standpoint." He's been working nine years to develop 30 acres he owns south of the Little Crane Cafe. And voters' decision last year to legalize recreational marijuana prompted him to pursue a grow operation there. Labor-intensive marijuana cultivation is a "really good fit" for Vader and its labor force of former logging industry workers, he said. "This is enough money to provide really high-quality jobs, family-wage jobs that people will want to keep," he said. "To make a really strong community."
He'd like to build three 30,000-square-foot (three-quarters of an acre) indoor growing facilities, saying each would provide about $6,700 a year in property taxes to City Hall. Add on the money spent by his employees and the other business that could be attracted, and Milton said that's a huge boost to town's economy.Milton estimates he'd employ about 30 people in each of the three facilities, or 90 total if all are built.
Mayor Ken Smith said state law is on Milton's side and the City Council is "trying to figure out the nuances" of the law to prepare for ruling on the official applications when Milton submits them at Vader City Hall. This hadn't been done as of Friday, Smith said."Our City Council is trying to get its mind around (Milton's proposal), what it means and what would be the wisest course of action to represent the best interests of our community," he said.
Vader's economic difficulties are "a stark and grim reality," said Smith, a retired FBI agent. "Then again, there are principals involved that sometimes supersede the value of a dollar. It's the moral dilemma that we're evaluating." If the plan moves forward, "we would be on the cutting edge," he said. Not everyone is sold on the idea (see sidebar), but Milton said he hopes that will change as Vader residents learn more about his plan and the strict safety standards the state has in place. Those include 24/7 security monitoring and cataloging of "every seed and every ounce that's produced there." No marijuana would be sold at the facility.
"Marijuana can be controversial, mostly because it has been illegal and associated with illegal activity," he said. "But it's an amazingly complex issue." He also said there's a humanitarian aspect to legalizing marijuana. He hopes the local, legal supply will cut down on the illegal crops produced in Mexico by dangerous drug cartels. "They're literally murdering people that get in way of the production and demand," he said.
He also hopes some of the opposition will die down as more people learn of his plans.It's normal to fear a big change, he said, noting that the Cardinal Glass plant in Winlock was initially opposed by some worried about a large factory in a rural setting. Now, he said, it's an accepted part of the community.
"Sometimes it's really more about change and something coming to town that hasn't been there before," he said. "I think marijuana is just the latest thing that's new and different, but once people understand it's just a manufacturing facility, it's really no different than any other industry. ... It will just be a place that people go to work."
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Tdn.com
Author: Leslie Slape and Barbara LaBoe
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Vader marijuana facility: 'Big win' or bad idea?
